Can FRUIT make you FAT?

To some, this question may not even have come up. But some people who have purchased Gourmet Nutrition have noticed that so many of the "Anytime" meals in the book are pretty low in carbohydrates. 

Why?

Doesn't the USDA food guide pyramid suggest that we have 8-12 servings of grains per day? We'll get to that little "back-door deal" in a bit. 

But first the reasons for the low carbohydrates in Gourmet Nutrition. Here's the meat of the reasoning. 

Muscle gain/loss and fat gain/loss are regulated by hormones. They are not regulated by exercise or diet. Exercise and diet are simply the way we manipulate the hormones. 

The greatest energy storing/fat gaining hormone is insulin. Now I'm not trying to demonize insulin, it is needed. Just ask a diabetic. But insulin transports energy into our cells to be used. But what happens when don't use it? That energy is stored as fat.

Insulin is released in the greatest volumes when sugar is eaten. The more simple the sugar, the stronger and faster the insulin response from the pancreas. So insulin is released when you eat pancakes, donuts, whole wheat bread, apples and oranges. Any sugar will activate an insulin release. 

Now one of the main things I've told people in the past is that they need to have whole grains instead of refined grains. I have slowly began to step away from that to an EVEN MORE conservative position by saying we should minimize or even ELIMINATE GRAINS from our diets. Instead the sugars we eat need to come from fruits and vegetables. Grains are a great source of carbohydrates if we need a lot of them. However, unless you are have a job that relies on a lot of heavy manual labor, you won't need that many.

But now I'll ask some of you to take it a step further: vegetables should out number fruits 2-to-1. You'll still be getting 2-3 pieces of fruit daily, But some fruits have a high sugar content. A high sugar content, no matter the source will have a strong insulin release and as a result, begin to store the energy in the form of fat if not used almost quickly.

What are some of these fruits? Any fruit that has above 10g of sugar per serving should be only eaten once or twice per day. Examples of these are apples (12 g of sugar), banana (20 g), cherries (13 g), dates (73 g), grapes (15 g), mango (15), persimmon (19 g), and pomegranate (17g).

Instead try to eat fruits and vegetables that are very low in sugars: strawberries (5 g), peaches (8 g), passion fruit (6 g), grapefruit (7 g), cranberry (4 g), carrots (2 g), avocado (7 g), watermelon (8 g) and cantaloupe (6 g). There are many, many others.

However, just about every vegetable you can think of (aside from potatoes and yams) will have a very low sugar content. Remember, we want to control insulin. And the way we do this is by minimizing sugar and increasing exercise along with protein and consumption of unsaturated fats. If you look at the Gourmet Nutrition nutrient breakdown for each meal, you'll see that the "anytime meals" have fewer than 20 g of total carbohydrates per small serving.


So give that no-grain diet a try and load your diet with meats, dairy, fish, nuts, beans, vegetables and fruits. You'll be glad you did!

Tomorrow I'll tell you why the USDA "recommends" why we should have such a high whole grain intake. It has do with money.

Tricky, tricky... sweet and sticky.

When you see this picture to the right, what is the first adjective that comes to mind?


Tasty? Yes.


Sweet? Yes



Refreshing? Yes.


Healthy? Not so fast.


You see many juices, although full of healthy vitamins and minerals are still high in sugar content. Even if it's 100% pure juice. 

At this point many of you may be feeling as if you've been lied to.Juices are supposed to be the antithesis of soda, energy drinks and other garbage we dump into our bellies. 

But take a look at the table below, and you'll see that for many people who live on juice, it may the kiss of an enemy.

12 ounces of >>>>>>>	Coca-Cola	Orange Juice	Apple Juice	Cherry Juice	Grape Juice
Total carbohydrates	40 g	39 g	42 g	49.5 g	60 g
Carbs from sugar	40 g	33 g	39 g	37.5 g	58.5 g
Sugar (teaspoons)	10 tsp	8 tsp	10 tsp	9 tsp	15 tsp
Calories	145	165	165	210	240

So looking at this chart, a Coke would be your best bet if you're trying to cut calories. Now I want everybody to have juice because there is no way you're going to get vitamin C, potassium, calcium, and other key vitamins and minerals from a Coke. But I don't want you to have the sugar.


Remember, excess sugar causes the pancreas to release insulin. Insulin is a major energy storing hormone that has the potential to add unwanted fat to your frame!

So here are 4 ways to get the good stuff from the juice without the devastating sugar impact. 

1. Use a smaller glass. Back in the '50s families used to have "juice glasses" that were used specifically for juice. These cups were only 4-6 ounces and were the perfect size for a breakfast "treat."
2. Dilute your juice. I love cranberry juice. But it's pretty high in sugar as well. So I make my own little "cranberry splash on the rocks." Fill a regular glass with ice, then fill it 2/3 with water and then top it off with cranberry juice. You get a nice cold refreshing drink with cranberry flavor and actually is probably about 2-3 ounces of cranberry juice.
3. Use a juice mixture in homemade salad dressing. This is a great idea because now you're taking control of your meals and not subject to the hoard of cream based dressings. The book Gourmet Nutrition has a section towards the back that shows you how to make your own dressings. Another good reason to pick up this awesome book. For a $10 discount, send me an email and I'll tell you how!
4. Add juice to plain yogurt. Plain yogurt can be a bit tart. But you can make your own flavored yogurt by adding a splash of juice to plain yogurt for flavored yogurt. By doing this you will reduce the insulin response due to the protein and fat in the yogurt. Protein and fat slow digestion and as a result will decrease the rate of insulin release.
5. BONUS TIP - Anytime you are having a carbohydrate to eat or drink, you need to have a protein source with it. Protein slows down digestion and speeds up metabolism!

Ins and Outs

Understanding what to eat and when to eat it is a very complex thing. But here is a basic premise to run with: eat enough of the RIGHT stuff to fuel exercise and support muscle. But don't eat so much that you are feeding your fat stores.

How you do this is basically by limiting your intake of carbohydrates in the form of grains/breads/pasta to the days and times near your workouts. So on days that you do not workout, there should only be 1 meal that contains grains. On these days your carbohydrates should come from fruits and vegetables.

You see most grain products are very easy to eat: pasta, bread, chips, not to mention all the sweet stuff like cakes and cookies. By minimizing or eliminating grains you can really, REALLY cut back on your calories.
But here is the catch:
YOU MUST EAT A LOT OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES to replace some of the calories you are taking out of your diet. Remember that fruits and veggies are usually lower in calories than most grain products.

So here is the quick and simple point of this post: Eat 4 pieces of fruit per day, and 4 servings of vegetables per day. At this rate you will be getting 8 servings of fruit and vegetables AND by eating so much fruit and vegetables, you won't have the stomach room or the time to eat most of the foods that are higher in calories.

PS/ Don't forget to calculate your caloric intake at www.caloriecount.com. Sign up, start a free account and start tracking your food intake!!